Modules Overview
Ignition’s modular architecture allows you to customize and expand your system according to your needs. Modules enhance Ignition's functionality, enabling you to start with essential features and add more as required.
What are Modules?
Modules extend Ignition’s capabilities. They introduce specific features or functionalities, such as new Designer workspaces, Gateway settings, and drivers. Core modules include the Perspective, Vision, and SQL Bridge modules.
Modules integrate directly with Ignition, offering new features with minimal configuration. Once installed, modules work seamlessly with existing components.
Benefits of Modules
- Flexible Licensing: License only the modules you need, reducing costs and simplifying system setup.
- Dynamic Management: Enable or disable modules as needed, with changes taking effect after a Gateway restart.
- Increased Stability: Modules built on a common platform benefit from improved reliability and isolation.
- Plugable Architecture: Easily add new features with new or third party modules.
Capabilities of Modules
Modules provide a range of functionalities:
- Screen Creation: Design dashboards, detail windows, and historical displays using the Vision module. Integrate real-time data from OPC UA servers and create interactive user forms.
- Mobile Access: The Perspective App allows viewing and interacting with Ignition applications from mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones.
- Alarm Management: Configure alarms to detect system issues and notify users. Alarms can be displayed with pre-built components and logged into SQL databases. Notification modules can send alerts via email, SMS, or phone calls.
- Data Collection: Use the SQL Bridge, Historian Core, and SQL Historian modules for data logging. Historical data can be used in charts, tables, and reports, with storage in SQL databases for easy access by third party software.
- Reporting: Generate on-demand reports using data from various sources. The Reporting module allows for the creation, scheduling, and delivery of reports through email or network drives.
Solution Suites
Building on how modules work together to expand functionality, the Ignition Solution Suites group modules as pre-packaged collections to address specific operational challenges. Modules within each suite cannot be removed, but you can add individual modules on top of a suite for further customization of your system. The modules included in each suite are listed in the table below.
| Name | Description | Included Modules |
|---|---|---|
| Application Building Suite | Build powerful mobile-responsive industrial applications like SCADA, HMI, Reporting, and more. | Perspective and Reporting |
| Industrial Historian Suite | Optimize time-series data management with powerful, high-performance Historians. | Historian Core and SQL Historian |
| Enterprise Integration Suite | Integrate your industrial systems with your enterprise data for smarter decisions and sustained growth. | MongoDB, Kafka, MQTT Transmission, and MQTT Engine |
| Alarm Management Suite | Ensure timely and effective responses to critical events with advanced alarm notifications. | Alarm Notification, Voice Notification, SMS Notification, Twilio Notification |
| DataOps Suite | Streamline data operations with event-driven management and custom web development tools. | SQL Bridge, Web Development, and Event Streams |
Third Party Modules
In addition to Inductive Automation’s modules, third party companies offer modules developed with Ignition’s Module Software Development Kit (SDK). Examples include:
- MES Modules: Sepasoft provides Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) modules for tracking OEE, implementing SPC systems, and managing resources.
- MQTT Modules: Cirrus Link’s modules integrate MQTT with Ignition, expanding data access by exposing numerous data points as tags. Additional third party modules are available on our downloads page.
Creating Custom Modules
To develop custom modules, refer to the SDK documentation. This resource provides guidelines and tools for creating modules.